Uncategorized July 18, 2024

American Trust Retirement Launches WorkSaveRetire Program

The retirement plan offering is designed to streamline plan operations for plan advisers and sponsors.

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American Trust Retirement, a provider of retirement plan solutions to advisers serving the small- and mid-sized plan market, unveiled its WorkSaveRetire program, which brings together various existing services with the goal of streamlining qualified retirement plan operations.

American Trust Retirement will serve as the fiduciary to the plan and its investments as the WorkSaveRetire team manages the administrative tasks of operating the plan, which in turn will allow advisory firms to focus on running their businesses, according to the firm.  

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“By entrusting the operation of retirement plans to us, advisory firms are liberated to focus on servicing their existing clients and expanding their businesses while overseeing and monitoring plan performance in a simple and streamlined way,” Jonathan Duggan, senior vice president and national sales manager at American Trust Retirement, said in a statement.

He adds that employers can shift the responsibility and fiduciary liability of managing a retirement plan to experts at American Trust Retirement.

The firm stated that although plan sponsors might have a basic grasp of their fiduciary duties, they often underestimate the personal risks and obligations associated with being a fiduciary.

WorkSaveRetire is also meant to help deliver better participant outcomes. By combining smart plan design features with a focus on participant advice, American Trust Retirement stated that it can better position plan participants to achieve their long-term goals.

“With our team handling everything from approving participant distributions and managing plan investments to completing all required annual reporting, there’s never been a better time to work with American Trust Retirement,” Duggan said in a statement. “Firms adopting our plan design features and personalized managed accounts experienced a dramatic improvement in the percentage of participants on track to retire successfully.”

American Trust’s services include retirement-related offerings including recordkeeping, personalized managed account offerings, payroll integration and individual retirement accounts.

Uncategorized July 17, 2024

World Investment Advisors Acquires Boston Harbor Wealth Advisors

$3.5 billion firm joins World (formerly Pensionmark) to expand its growth strategy and enhance its offering to advisers and clients.

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World Investment Advisors LLC, formerly Pensionmark, announced Wednesday the acquisition of Boston Harbor Wealth Advisors LLC, an independent financial services firm located in Westborough, Massachussetts.

World makes its first acquisition as the newly named company that, in part, has a strategy to build through expanding its network of wealth and retirement advisers connected back to the larger parent business. BHWA will bring with it 76 team members, 15 offices throughout the Northeast and Ohio, and more than $3.5 billion in assets under administration; the firm specializes in financial planning and investment management for individuals, families and corporations.

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“We are delighted to welcome the Boston Harbor team to the World family,” said Troy Hammond, CEO of World Investment Advisors, in a statement. “In addition to an incredible group of financial advisers, we are fortunate to be adding premier leadership and team members that will prove invaluable for our advisers, clients and ongoing acquisition growth strategy.”

According to the announcement, BHWA offers strong leadership and a desirable footprint to World Investment Advisors. Meanwhile, BHWA advisers will benefit from World’s centralized support model, multi-custodian offering, modern tech stack and lead generation resources, according to the announcement.

“Having World’s backing will significantly increase our effectiveness as we expand our recruiting efforts in the RIA space with a more robust and competitive offering for advisers,” said Matthew Davis, BHWA’s CEO, in a statement.

BHWA marks World Investment Advisors’ third acquisition within nine months and the second acquired firm with more than $3 billion in AUM.

World Investment Advisors announced its rebrand from Pensionmark Financial Group last Wednesday. The company stated that the new name enhances alignment with parent company World Insurance Associates LLC.

World acquired Pensionmark in March 2022, with the division currently employing 392 certified financial advisers overseeing $55 billion in assets under advisement between its wealth management and institutional segments. The wealth management division has increased its assets under management to $11.5 billion from $1 billion during the past two years.

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